The present application claims the priority of the commonly owned pending German patent application Serial No. 100 15 071.3 filed Mar. 25, 2000. The disclosure of the above-referenced German patent application, as well as that of each US and foreign patent and patent application identified in the specification of the present application, is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to improvements in receptacles or containers, and more particularly to improvements in box-shaped receptacles which are or which can be utilized for the confinement of discrete (such as rod-shaped) products, e.g., arrays of cigarettes cigars cigarillos and other rod-shaped smokers"" products. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in the making and manpulation of receptacles of the type known as hinged-lid packs which are popular, and which are becoming even more popular for the confinement of arrays of rod-shaped smokers"" products (hereinafter called cigarettes but intended to embrace all kinds of rod-shaped smokers"" products).
Hinged-lid cigarette packs are described and illustrated, for example, in published German patent application Serial No. 196 43 411 A1. A pack of the type described in this published patent application comprises a cigarettes-confining component or member (hereinafter called housing or housing member) having an opening which affords access to confined cigarettes, a cover member or lid which has a rear wall or panel-pivotable relative to the rear wall or panel of the housing, and an insert (namely a so-called collar) which is inserted into the housing and surrounds three sides of the opening. The outer side of the collar is engaged by the front wall and by the two sidewalls of the lid when the latter is maintained in the closed position. In order to enhance the appearance of such packs, the housing and the lid are provided with windows. That side of each window which confronts the contents of the pack is closed. The front wall of the collar and the customary inwardly folded reinforcing flap of the front wall of the lid are utilized to carry printed matter.
It is customary, practically all over the world, to impose taxes upon smokers"" products. In order to furnish evidence that the required taxes or duties upon the contents of a cigarette pack have been paid, each such pack normally bears a revenue label or coupon which is bonded to the cigarette pack by a suitable adhesive. Since a cigarette packing machine invariably turns out a certain number of rejects, and since a modern packing machine turns out huge quantities of cigarette packs, it is desirable and customary to remove the revenue labels or coupons (hereinafter called labels or bands for short), to gather the removed labels, and to obtain refunds or credits from the relevant governmental agency for each returned label. Such procedure is followed by the manufacturers of cigarette packs in connection with each pack which is damaged, smudged and/or otherwise adversely affected to an extent which renders it unsuitable for sale to distributors and/or to the ultimate consumers. All in all, the recovered labels constitute a valuable property which can greatly affect the profits of the manufacturers of cigarette packs. For example, a so-called COMPAS cigarette packer (distributed by the assignee of the present application) can turn out in excess of 500 cigarette packs per minute. Thus, even if the percentage of rejects per hour, per shift or per day is low or extremely low, the total number of rejects is sufficiently high to warrant the recovery of each and every revenue label that was applied to a defective cigarette pack.
A problem which still awaits an acceptable solution is to satisfactorily (such as completely and rapidly) remove labels from defective packs, i.e., to rapidly separate labels from cigarette packs which constitute rejects (or which are not suitable for shipment to distributors and/or consumers for any other reason) and to separate the labels in a manner and in a condition acceptable for presentation to the authorities in charge of properly crediting the taxes paid or expected to be paid for the contents of cigarette packs already relieved or about to be relieved of their revenue labels.
The above problem is attributable to the fact that, in accordance with the presently prevailing technique, labels are pasted directly onto the cigarette packs; this necessitates resort to a time-consuming undertaking involving the separation of adhesively affixed labels from the packs because a damaged (such as torn or fragmentized) label might not be acceptable for refund and also because detachment of labels from their packs can become too expensive if it takes up a relatively long interval of time.
An object of this invention is to provide a label-bearing cigarette pack which is constructed and assembled in such a way that the label can be separated from its housing and/or from its cover in a time-saving and convenient manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pack which is constructed and assembled in such a way that the detachment of the label is more likely to involve damage to the receptacle for cigarettes than to the label.
A further object of the invention is to provide novel and improved components which constitute the housing and the lid of a cigarette pack.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved hinged-lid pack for the confinement of cigarettes or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved method of assembling the housing and the lid of a hinged-lid pack with a revenue label, coupon or the like.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide a method which renders it possible to ensure rapid, convenient and reliable detachment of revenue labels and like parts from the housing and cover of a hinged-lid pack.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method which renders it possible to separate the label from the hinged-lid pack in a condition which is acceptable for presentation to relevant authorities to ensure invariable recovery of the value represented by the label.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a hinged-lid pack wherein the properly applied revenue label or coupon contributes to the eye-pleasing appearance of the finished product.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved blank which can be converted into a hinged-lid pack adapted to bear a revenue label or the like in a manner ensuring convenient and rapid separation of the label if such recovery becomes desirable or necessary.
A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive blank which can be fed into a cigarette packing machine in a condition ready for conversion into a hinged-lid cigarette pack without any, or without appreciable, further treatment (such as slitting, severing, creasing, folding or the like) prior to confinement of an array of rod-shaped articles therein and/or prior to the application of a label to its exterior.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide a novel and improved machine for the confinement of rod-shaped smokers"" products in hinged-lid packs and the like.
One feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a receptacle for smokers"" products which comprises a housing member having an opening and a cover member. Each of these members includes a main portion, at least one section of which is separable from the respective main portion, and breakable means for connecting the main portion with the respective at least one section. The main portion is and the sections have first tearing strengths and the connecting means have lesser second tearing strengths. The improved receptacle further comprises means for attaching the two members to each other for movement of the cover member between first and second positions in which the cover member respectively closes and exposes the opening, and a pad which overlies the aforementioned sections at least-in the first position of the cover member. The pad is separable from the main portions together with the sections upon breakage of the connecting means.
The attaching means can include a hinge and each of the two main portions can include a front wall and a rear wail. The hinge can be positioned and Designed to pivotably connect the rear walls of the two members to each other.
The pad preferably consists of a single sheet of strip material one side of which is coated with a glue or another suitable adhesive substance.
The position of the at least one section of the housing member can be selected in such a way that this section is adjacent the at least one section of the cover member, at least in the first position of the cover member.
The connecting means of the cover member can include at least one end portion which is immediately adjacent an end portion of the connecting means of the housing, at least in the first position of the cover member.
At least a portion of the attaching means can serve to articulately connect the at least one section of the housing member with the at least one section of the cover member.
Each of the two main portions can include two spaced apart parallel sidewalls and at least a portion of at least one section of the at least one member can be of one piece with one of the sidewalls, at least in the unbroken condition of the connecting means adjacent the at least one portion of the at least one section.
The main portion of the cover member can include a top wall and a rear wall, and at least a portion of the at least one section of the cover member can be coplanar with one of the aforementioned walls, at least in the first position of the cover member and in unbroken condition of the respective connecting means.
The main portion of the cover member can include a top wall and a sidewall, and the at least one section of the cover member can include first and second parts which are respectively coplanar with the top wall and the sidewall, at least in the unbroken condition of the respective connecting means.
The pad is or can be bonded to the aforementioned sections; such pad can include a revenue label, a coupon or the like.
The dimensions of the pad can be selected in such a way that it overlies at least a portion of at least one of the connecting means.
Another feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a method of making and manipulating a substantially box-shaped receptacle for smokers"" products, especially a hinged-lid pack for arrays of cigarettes or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. The improved method comprises the steps of providing a blank of foldable sheet material with at least one weakened portion which at least partially surrounds at least one section of the blank, and thereupon converting the blank into a receptacle wherein a cover member is attached to a housing member for movement between closed and open-positions in which the cover member respectively overlies and exposes an opening of the housing member and wherein the at least one section is accessible at the exterior of at least one of the two members. The improved method further comprises the steps of bonding a one-piece pad to the at least one section of the converted blank in the closed position of the cover member, thereupon inspecting the quality of the receptacle, and detaching the pad from the receptacle, without appreciably damaging the pad, when the inspecting step reveals that the condition of the receptacle fails to meet a predetermined standard.
The detaching step can include separating the pad from the receptacle together with the at least one section.
The pad can include or constitute at least one revenue label or coupon, and the detaching step can be carried out by hand or mechanically (i.e., with a machine, tool or implement).
The converting step can include transforming the blank into a receptacle wherein the at least- one section forms part of the housing member as well as of the cover member and is preferably positioned in such a way that the receptacle can be opened (in order to afford access to the contents of the receptacle) only upon detachment of the label (except upon destruction of the label to an extent which might render the label unsuitable for presentation to the authorities for a refund).
The bonding step can include causing the pad to overlie the entire at least one section as well as a portion of the housing member and/or cover member adjacent the at least one section.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved receptacle itself, however, both as to its construction and the modes of assembling and utilizing the same, together with numerous additional important and advantageous features and attributes thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain presently preferred specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.